OTE holds TV base steady despite competitive pressures

Deutsche Telekom-owned Greek telecom operator OTE saw its TV base slip back very marginally in the second quarter, with the loss of 634 subscribers, to take its total to 647,897.

That number was still up year-on-year by 1%, but contrasted with ongoing growth in broadband subs.

The telco said it had held its TV base steady despite competitive challenges and the ongoing challenge of widespread piracy. It said it was working to steadily expand the base, leaning on premium content. That premium content includes the acquisition of Greek football rights in Q2, which hit the company’s quarterly capex line. Adjusted capex was up 15.6%.

OTE said it had continued to capture the bulk of total broadband market net additions, posting 9,002 net additions in the quarter, raising the total number of broadband subscribers to 2.342 million. Broadband penetration on its total fixed lines further expanded to 87%, up from 84% a year earlier.

OTE recorded another quarter of year-on-year increase in total fibre subscribers, up 7%, with 25,497 net additions in the quarter. The total number of fiber (FTTx) subscribers stood at 1,515 million, while FTTx penetration on the total broadband base further expanded to 64.7%. The share of subscribers using broadband speeds of 100Μbps or higher has now reached 46% of all FTTx connections.

OTE passed nearly 1.1 million fibre homes at the end of June 2023, and plans to reach approximately 1.4 million homes by year end.

OTE’s revenues stood at €854.1 million for the quarter, down 0.4%, with a decline in  mobile revenues in Romania dragging the total down. Adjusted EBITDA was €326.8 million, down 1.4%.